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The rainfall only encouraged cheers from the nearly 2,000 graduates at the Radford University 2014 Spring Commencement, held on Moffett Lawn on Saturday, May 10, 2014.

Anne Holton, Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, served as the keynote speaker for the event, telling the graduates that the day was one for celebrating completion and achievement. "But I have news for you," she said. "Today is really the beginning of your lifetime of learning.

This year's spring graduates represented 28 states and 13 different countries, including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.

RU's fall 2013 enrollment of 9,928 students is the largest class in the history of the university, which has grown by 921 students over the past four years.

In a ceremony abbreviated because of inclement weather, RU Board of Visitors Rector Linda K. Whitley-Taylor '86, stepping in for RU President Penelope W. Kyle, conferred degrees on 1,933 undergraduate (1,596) and graduate (337) students. "On behalf of everyone at the university, I give our deepest congratulations to you," Whitley-Taylor said to open the ceremony.

Other commencement activities were held on Friday, May 9, including the 27th Annual Graduation and Hooding Ceremony for students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, the ROTC commissioning of cadets as U.S. Army officers, the School of Nursing pinning ceremony for graduates and the Multicultural Congratulatory Ceremony in Hurlburt Student Center auditorium.